Ride Ride from Northern tip of Japan to the Southern Tip, 24th August – 4th November

[Allan]

Later this year, I am going to be spending 11 weeks (21th Aug 17 – 4th Nov 17) riding from the Northern point of Japan (Soya Misaki) to Sourthern point of Kyushu (Sata Misaki). I picked these dates so that the weather won’t be too hot in the south or too cold in the north. The trip will start with a couple of days in Tokyo, and a couple of days climbing Mt Fuji, before flying to Wakkanai on the 24th of August to start riding from the north to the south. The last week of the trip will be spent hiking on Yakushima.

I'm 26, Australian (don't hold that against me). Speak/Read enough Japanese to get by.

For the trip, there is currently 2 of us going, an American girl and myself.

The intended speed during the trip will be an easy slow pace of 15-20km/h during the trip, I myself are much faster than this, but my American buddy, is only new to cycling, only starting last year, so 15-20km/h is the estimated pace . I’m also pretty good amateur bicycle mechanic, I can fix just about any problem.

I should also say, that during the tour I plan to camp and stay in hotels/guesthouses, since pre-made food is cheap, I don’t plan on cooking any meals, and just buy what I need along the way.

For the trip, I will be taking my custom 2017 Kona Sutra, touring bike, with Shimano XT T8000 groupset, or my custom Carbon cyclocross bike, with Ultegra Di2 groupset

If you’re interested let me know and we can chat a bit more.

 

[George5]

Welcome Allan. Very realistic expectations to start with but your companion will be riding herself into condition very rapidly. Are you doing the Eastern or Western coast down from Wakanai? The Western is much more direct down to Honshu but the Eastern coast offers more scenic wise IMHO. Don't forget to give yourselves a few rest days in your schedule for Typhoon days or general bike fatigue. Good luck and I'd take the touring bike just for the comfort factor and you'll likely be carrying more luggage weight than your companion. Keep us updated......

 

[Allan]

Welcome Allan. Very realistic expectations to start with but your companion will be riding herself into condition very rapidly. Are you doing the Eastern or Western coast down from Wakanai? The Western is much more direct down to Honshu but the Eastern coast offers more scenic wise IMHO. Don't forget to give yourselves a few rest days in your schedule for Typhoon days or general bike fatigue. Good luck and I'd take the touring bike just for the comfort factor and you'll likely be carrying more luggage weight than your companion. Keep us updated......

Thanks for the advice. Actually, I have attempted to ride from Wakkanai to Kagoshima in 2015, but unfortunately a car went through a red light in Nagano, and I was knocked off and unable to complete the trip.

We are pretty much going along the east cost of Hokkaido, until we reach Sapporo, then we will cut across inland. I have already discussed it with my companion, and to try and even out abilities, I will be carrying pretty much all of her stuff, along with my own.